Free Republic

Tom Tancredo will become Colorado's next governor, and Republicans will take over the state's legislature while Attorney General John Suthers will be re-elected, predicted David Flaherty, president and CEO of Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies, a Louisville, CO, pollster that works for Republicans around the country. In a phone interview, Flaherty said polls that show John Hickenlooper winning the gubernatorial race are using demographics and turnout numbers that incorrectly skew their results in favor of Democrats. "I do believe that Tom Tancredo is going to win," Flaherty declared. In recent polls, Tancredo has about 73% of Republican voters. Flaherty thinks...

Grand Junction Rep. Bernie Buescher — the presumed next speaker of the House and head of the powerful Joint Budget Committee — conceded the election today in a shocking upset. Buescher is a star among state Democrats, one of the go-to lawmakers at the Capitol, especially when it came to the state budget. He was at the top of the list to replace House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who was term-limited. Buescher said his phone had hardly stopped ringing today with consolatory calls from top state Democrats. The governor praised him this morning at a news conference, calling him "just a...

At the behest of the Mesa County Republican Party, the Colorado Republican Party voted to censure its attorney, John Zakhem, for making a contribution to incumbent Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction. Zakhem, whose law firm, Zakhem Atherton, represents the Colorado Republican Party, said he was surprised to hear about the central committee’s vote to censure him. Nonetheless, he said he was happy to hear a motion to terminate his service with the party... was defeated in a voice vote. Zakhem’s Aug. 28 donation of $400 to Buescher’s re-election campaign sparked outrage among the ranks of the Mesa County Republican Party...